Casting method and mold with cavity portions in end walls

ABSTRACT

IN PARTICULAR WHEN CASTING SMALL METAL BILLETS, AN IMPROVED METHOD OF CASTING AND HANDLING THE CAST PRODUCT IS PROVIDED BY USE OF A MOULD HAVING A NUMBER OF CASTING CHAMBERS FORMED BY TWO END WALLS AND PREFERABLY TWO REMOVABLE SIDE WALLS. GROOVES IN THE SIDE WALLS REGISTER TO PROVIDE A CHANNEL WHICH REGISTERS WITH CORRESPONDING RECESSES IN THE END WALLS, SO THAT AFTER CASTING THE SIDE WALLS ARE REMOVED LEAVING THE RIGID CAST MEMBERS SUPPORTED BY THE END WALLS. AN INLET DUCT IS PROVIDED IN ONE END WALL, AND THE END WALLS ARE CONNECTED RIGIDLY BY PREFERABLY TWO SPACERS, SO THAT THE END WALLS, SPACERS AND CAST MEMBERS CAN EASILY BE REMOVED FOR FURTHER PROCESSING SUCH AS COOLING.

Oct. 26, 1971 g, RABE 3,614,977

CASTING METHOD ANIS MOLD WITH CAVITY PORTIONS IN END WALLS Filed Aug.18, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ,23 Fig. 7 3 5 Fig.2

/ /f// I// ////l 27 22 1' 79 IN V EN TOR. YASAR KARABEK ATfoRn/EYS Oct.26,1971

Y. KARABEK CASTING METHOD AND MOLD WITH CAVITY PORTIONS IN END WALLSFiled Aug. 18, 1969 r 2 Sheets-Sheet Z IN V EN TOR.

YASAR KARABEK B'Y M114, 194M United States Patent O US. Cl. 164-129 13Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In particular when casting small metalbillets, an improved method of casting and handling the cast product isprovided by use of a mould having a number of casting chambers formed bytwo end walls and preferably two removable side walls. Grooves in theside walls register to provide a channel which registers withcorresponding recesses in the end walls, so that after casting the sidewalls are removed leaving the rigid cast members supported by the endwalls. An inlet duct is provided in one end wall, and the end walls areconnected rigidly by preferably two spacers, so that the end walls,spacers and cast members can easily be removed for further processingsuch as cooling.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates in particular to acasting mould having a number of elongated hollow casting or mouldchambers which are arranged to be filled with fluid material such as hotmetal through a common casting duct. The mould is intended particularlyfor the casting of billets, bars and similarly shaped pieces of metal.

When casting billets, because of the small size of the billet and thegenerally substantial size of the casting ladle, it is economicallyadvantageous to cast as many billets as possible in a single operation,in order to prevent the metal cooling while in the ladle or to avoid thenecessity of heating it continually. After casting, the billets can beremoved singly from the mould and transported to cooling 'beds, althoughthis is a complicated, time consuming operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention there is provided amould for casting members of generally elongated form from fluidmaterial, the mould comprising two end walls arranged to be releasablyconnected by spacing means, each end wall having a recess for forming acorresponding end portion of each member so that the end walls alone cansupport the member when it is sufficiently rigid, removable side wallsfor forming mould chambers between the end walls, and an inlet duct.

This invention can provide a casting mould by means of which it ispossible to simplify and reduce the work in a casting plant. It is alsopossible to construct a casting mould in such a manner that onlyportions thereof have to be renewed for the following casting operation,thereby speeding up the sequence of casting operations.

In a preferred embodiment for casting from molten metal, the inlet ductis arranged in one end wall, the duct being formed by a lining ofrefractory material as. are the recesses in that end wall. The metalsets in the inlet duct and recesses, it being intended that therefractory lining be discarded after use, the metal contained thereinbeing scrap metal.

The invention will be further described, by way of example, withreference to the accompanying drawings.

3,614,77 Patented Oct. 26, 1971 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1is a longitudinal section through a casting mould, along the line II ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the casting mould in its assembledstate, along the line IIII of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 when the side walls havebeen moved apart.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The casting mould shown in FIG. 1is for casting metal billets and comprises two end walls 2 and 3 whichare releasably connected together by spacers 5. In the em bodimentshown, the spacer 5 has abutment shoulders 6 and a portion of reducedcross-section which is passed through bores in the end walls 2 and 3until the end walls strike against the abutment shoulders 6. The endportions of the spacers 5, which project from the outside of the endwalls 2 and 3 are secured by wedges 7 which act to urge the walls 2 and3 against the abutment shoulders 6. Between the end walls 2 and 3 thereare provided two side walls 4 which can be moved apart and which containa number of elongated mould chambers 1, arranged in such a manner thatthe walls may be moved apart once casting is completed. The side walls 4are preferably blocks of graphite but other materials may be used ifthey are suitable for repeated casting without requiring repair.

The individual mould chambers 1 are fed with molten metal through acommon inlet duct '9 and inlet apertures 8. This inlet duct 9 is locatedon the inside of the end wall 3 and has a refractory lining 10 which isinserted in a suitable channel in the end wall 3 in such a manner thatthe lining 10 has to be discarded after each casting operation and isrenewed by another. The molten metal is poured from a casting ladle (notshown), which is preferably a pressure or vacuum operated casting ladle,through a pipe 11 which is connected in a suitable manner to the inletduct 9 from below. A slide member 12 serves to block the inlet duct 9once casting is completed, in order to enable excess molten metal toreturn through the pipe 11 and back into the ladle.

The mould chambers 1, which are cut in the side walls 4, are inclinedslightly upwards in this preferred embodiment and extend to formrecesses 13 in the upper end wall 2; the recesses 13 have a depth thatis greater than the amount by which the cast members contract oncooling.

In order to provide an exit for the air which is forced during thecasting operation through the melt in the mould chamber 1, an aperture14 is provided in the end wall 2, with this aperture being so narrowthat any metal flowing into the aperture immediately solidifies andcloses the hole. It is, however, also possible, to arrange a refractorybrick which is permeable to air in the mould, the refractory brickfulfilling the same function as the aperture 14.

The side walls 4, which are made of blocks of graphite, are held byframes 15 by means of clamps 1-6, with the lower surface of the frames15 being provided with rails 17 in the form of I-bears, by means ofwhich the frames are able to move on a number of sets of rollers 18secured to the base 19, transverse to the mould chambers 1. This slidingmovement is achieved by the use of hydraulic cylinders 20 which are alsosecured to the base 19 and are connected, through piston rods 21 andfishplates 22 to the frame 15.

The billets are cast into the mould of the invention in the followingmanner:

The two end walls 2, 3, which are firmly wedged to the spacers 5, arearranged with a built-in casting duct 9 between the side walls 4 whichhave been moved apart in such a manner that the casting duct 9 isconnected to the casting pipe 11 (already in position) and the sidewalls 4 may then be moved towards each other between the end walls 2 and3. The moving together of the side walls 4 is efilected by means of thehydraulic cylinders which act on the frames 15. In order to facilitatemovement of the side walls between the end walls 2 and 3, the wedges 7are first removed from the end wall 2 and the wall 2 displaced slightly.The wedges are now again secured in position so that the side walls 4are clamped firmly between the main walls 2 and 3.

Since it is not feasible to make the hydraulic cylinders 20 strongenough to urge the side Walls 4 together with sufficient strength toovercome the casting pressure, it is advisable, after the walls havebeen brought together, to clamp the frames 15 using suitable clampingmembers for casting moulds. Such clamping members are not shown in thedrawing. The clamping means ensures that the side walls 4 abut firmlyagainst each other at their surface of contact. The mould is now readyfor casting.

As soon as the metal, which is poured from the ladle (not shown) throughthe pipe 11 and the inlet duct 9, fills all the mould chambers 1, theslide 12 is closed and the remaining melt left below the slide memberflows back through the pipe 11. After a certain time, when the metal hassolidified sufficiently to form a substantial skin so that the castmember has some rigidity, the clamps (not shown) which hold the sidewalls 4 together and the wedges 7 are released. The side walls 4 arethen retracted to their outermost position by means of the hydrauliccylinders 20.

The main wall 2, which is only slightly displaced is now pressed firmlyagainst the abutment shoulders 6 by inserting the wedge 7 so that theend walls again form a rigid unit with the spacers 5. By means of lugs23 provided on the end walls 2 and 3, this rigid unit may be gripped bya crane and conveyed elsewhere until cooling is complete. The billets 24are held in the end wall 3 during this operation by means of thesolidified melt formed in the casting duct 9 and the holes 8, and in theend wall 2 by means of the ends of the cast members which even aftercooling are still located in the recesses 13 of the mould chamber 1.

As soon as the billets have cooled, the end walls 2 and 3 are movedapart once the wedges 7 have all been removed; the refractory lining 10is removed from the end wall 3. Once a new refractory lining 10 has beenprovided and the two end walls 2 and 3 have been assembled, the unit mayagain be used for casting.

A further advantage of the invention lies in the fact that as long asthe cast members are held in the end walls 2 and 3, they are accessiblefor an inspection for surface defects and any portions of the mouldadhering thereto may be easily removed.

In the case of the casting mould described above, the casting or mouldchambers are located one above the other. It is, however, possible forthe mould to be provided with chambers which are located horizontallyadjacent one another. In this case, the side walls 4 may be movedlaterally apart by pivoting the uppermost side wall about a horizontalaxis. In the same way, the mould chambers may be located verticallyadjacent one another, an arrangement which, in the case of relativelyshort billets, may be of greater advantage.

I claim:

1. A mould having at least one generally horizontal mould chamber forcasting members of generally elongated form from fiuid material, themould comprising two movable end walls, spacing means for spacing theend walls, releasable securing means for securing the spacing means tothe end walls, removable side walls between the end walls, and an inletduct communicating with said chamber, the portion of the mould chamberlying between the end walls being formed in the side walls, and each endportion of each mould chamber being formed by a recess in an end wallwhereby the end portions of each cast member engage and are supported bya corresponding recess in each end wall when the side walls are removed.

2. A mould as claimed in claim 1, wherein each mould chamber is slightlyinclined to the horizontal.

3. A mould as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inlet duct is arranged inone of the end walls.

4. A mould as claimed in claim 4, wherein the inlet duct is arranged tointroduce fluid material into each recess of one of the end walls.

5. A mould as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inlet duct has arefractory lining.

6. A mould as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inlet duct opensdownwardly to receive the fluid material from a pressure casting ladle.

7. A mould as claimed in claim 1, wherein the end wall remote from theinlet duct has gas release apertures extending from each recess.

8. A mould as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sides are arranged to beremoved by hydraulic means and arranged to be clamped by clamping meanswhen together.

9. A mould as claimed in claim 1, wherein each end wall has a liftinglug, so that the end walls, spacers and cast members can be liftedtogether for transport by a crane.

10. A mould as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spacer means comprisestwo shafts having end portions of reduced cross-section to provideshoulders for abutting and spacing the end walls, said portions passingthrough the corresponding end wall and arranged to be secured by awedge.

11. A mould as claimed in claim 1, wherein the side walls are ofgraphite.

12. A method of casting members of generally elongated rigid formcomprising forming a generally horizontal mould having two removableside walls and two movable spaced end walls having recesses forsupporting the members when formed and rigid, charging fluid materialinto the mould, allowing the members to become sufiiciently rigid to besupported by the end walls, and removing the removable side walls toprovide access to substantially the whole of the member.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12 in which the fiuid material ismolten metal and the recesses in each end wall exceed the longitudinalcontraction of the cast member during cooling.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 484,124 10/1892 Stone 249-117 X3,196,503 7/1965 Sylvester 164306 X 3,296,665 l/1967 Fenzan 164-3433,370,823 2/1968 Sylvester 249165 X 3,454,254 7/1969 Nelson 1644l0 XROBERT D. BALDWIN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

